Linux and open-source companies have made much about how the recession is creating opportunity at the expense of proprietary and licensed-based software as IT budgets are cut.
For proprietary and license-charged, read Microsoft and Oracle.
Now, Microsoft is attempting to exploit its controversial relationship with Novell to …

COMMENTS

Think Again

The ability of companies to keep their own staff programmers in support of open source projects is just as vulnerable. After they have already bought the cheapest "commodity" hardware on the market the only thing left to cut us staff.

Yeah...

...smells like the usual Ballmer bullshit. Microsoft is now misfiring allover the place, shutting down products, cutting back on staff, backing Linux based projects etc, etc. Strikes me as this aint just about a recession, people are getting wise and Microsoft are getting very worried.

Too bad

Selling something is better than nothing

MS salesman: Mr Over-the-Barrel customer you must buy this MS software contract for $1M just as you have for the last 10 years... and while you're up get me another coffee and tell all your company to use bing as their search engine.

Customer: Look, my hands are no longer bound. I have heard of Linux and will try that. Look at my new sandals. Now take your MS wares and chkdsk off (since you don't know how to fsck off).

MS salesman: Oooh we have 300 patents and you'll get done. But you can buy some of these Novel license things for $100k and we won't worry about the patents.

Customer: 300 patents eh? Well I guess we can write a cheque for $100k.

MS salesman to his boss: Oh well at least we managed to still get $100k out of that customer... a lot better than nothing.

Ballmer: Damn. I'll have to cut down on the chair budget... Or maybe I can fire some staff and free some up.